Yoichi Wada says handhelds drive game market
Monday, 11th June 2007 - Source: FT.com - Read 1436 timesSquare-Enix
According to Yoichi Wada, Square Enix's current CEO, consoles are out and handhelds are in. Yep, the head of SE says that the 360 and the PS3 aren't what the majority of gamers want right now, despite the widely-covered "console wars".
"There is a new breed of gamers in the market - we have to make games for all kinds of people. In the old days, we could just focus on the PlayStation or the GameBoy, but the environment has changed completely," said Wada, in an interview with the Financial Times.
With handhelds shipping more units and garnering higher sales than consoles, it's little wonder that Square Enix is taking advantage of the current trend rather than through all of its effort behind titles for consoles.
Wada went on to say that consoles like the 360 and the PS3 are over-engineered, commenting that, "There are too many specs - and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection and a deep knowledge of gaming - these consoles are mismatched to today’s environment. In a year or two years they will fare better."
So it sounds like, until the majority of gamers catch up to the console technology, the handheld titles are going to keep coming, at least where SE is concerned.
Source: FT.com
"There is a new breed of gamers in the market - we have to make games for all kinds of people. In the old days, we could just focus on the PlayStation or the GameBoy, but the environment has changed completely," said Wada, in an interview with the Financial Times.
With handhelds shipping more units and garnering higher sales than consoles, it's little wonder that Square Enix is taking advantage of the current trend rather than through all of its effort behind titles for consoles.
Wada went on to say that consoles like the 360 and the PS3 are over-engineered, commenting that, "There are too many specs - and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection and a deep knowledge of gaming - these consoles are mismatched to today’s environment. In a year or two years they will fare better."
So it sounds like, until the majority of gamers catch up to the console technology, the handheld titles are going to keep coming, at least where SE is concerned.
Source: FT.com